NEW HAVEN -- Two telephones were wiretapped by the FBI in their five-and-a-half-year probe of Shelton corruption and Mayor Mark Lauretti.

Four or five witnesses wore recording devices.

The town's Inland Wetlands and Planning and Zoning commissions could be bought.

And several Bridgeport Avenue developers including "Mr. Blakeman and Mr. Scinto are unindicted co-conspirators" of James Botti.

Those are just some of the bombshells William F. Dow III, Botti's defense lawyer, alleged during a hearing on several pre-trial motions as Senior U.S. District Judge Charles Haight Jr. prepares for the Oct. 19 start of the corruption trial in which Botti is the only defendant.

The judge reserved ruling on all of the motions after hearing legal arguments for most of Monday. The motions included those trying to keep Kelly Botti, the defendant's ex-wife, from testifying for the prosecution and another asking that Dominick Thomas, a prominent Valley land-use lawyer, be allowed to sit at the defense table during the trial.

Botti, 46, of Maple Avenue in Shelton, is accused of buying the approval of Lauretti and other city officials to push through his 828 Bridgeport Ave. development that includes two restaurants and a bank.

Jury selection in Botti's trial will take place Oct. 15.

Dow said his perceptions, outlined in open court to the judge, are based on boxes of evidence he reviewed after receiving them from Assistant U.S. Attorneys Richard Schechter and Rahul Kale, who are prosecuting the case.

The New Haven defense lawyer told the judge the investigation began after a Shelton inland wetlands commissioner approached the FBI in February 2002 with concerns about a Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission ruling. Neither the ruling nor the project were identified.

By September 2003, Dow said the investigation "focused on the mayor of Shelton and several other developers."

Dow told the judge that what the government is saying in its indictment is "Botti is corrupt. Botti developed three developments. To do it, the mayor was in his back pocket. To do it he had to give the mayor money."

The lawyer further claims it's the prosecution's contention that "James Botti either provided or assisted the mayor in rehabbing his house" in 2002.

The probe included "two wiretaps against Lauretti" and "four or five people wearing wires," Dow told the judge.

He later said he believed one of those persons wearing a wire was Richard Schultz, Shelton's zoning code enforcement officer. He said Schultz met with the FBI on at least 38 occasions, based on the FBI reports he received. Schultz could not be reached for comment at Shelton City Hall Monday.

"I'm not going to comment on anything I've heard second hand," said Lauretti, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crime.

"No one has said anything to me," said the mayor, who is seeking a 10th term in office.

Dow told the judge that the FBI investigation also targeted development on Bridgeport Avenue during Lauretti's administration.

Following the proceeding, he declined to identify which Mr. Blakeman (Wesley or Monty, both Shelton developers) he was referring to or offer any other information on the accusation. Neither Robert Scinto nor the Blakemans returned calls for comment Monday.

Neither Scinto nor either of the Blakemans have been charged with any crimes.

Thomas Carson, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, issued a flat "no comment" on all of Dow's disclosures. Carson, who was in the courtroom for a portion of the hearing, did say the investigation is continuing.

Much of the afternoon session was spent discussing Dominick Thomas' role in the trial.

Dow wants the Derby-based lawyer, who represented Botti in all three of his Bridgeport Avenue projects, present at the defense table as an expert witness in the same manner the FBI and IRS case agents will be at the prosecution table.

"This guy knows everything," said Dow. "He's been with Mr. Botti from the beginning. I can study now until the cows come home and I'm never going to know what this guy does. He's essential to the defense case."

That, along with Thomas' role is "very troubling to the government" and "presents a host of ethical issues," said Kale, one of the prosecutors.

"Two witnesses (who were not identified) told us they've been represented by Dominick Thomas in the past," the prosecutor said. "None of them has signed waivers permitting Mr. Thomas to be engaged in their cross-examination."

The prosecutor further said Botti has been tape-recorded telling someone his lawyer (Thomas) has information on "a number of developers and town workers and he can sink them."

Schechter, the lead prosecutor, added that, in the recording, "Botti brags about how Mr. Thomas told him about all the corruption going on in Shelton." Thomas, who was not in court but attending a funeral Monday, declined to comment on the claims except to say "my knowledge of zoning issues is greater than both sides. It's a unique area of law."

Another heated issue is what role Kelly Botti, the defendant's ex-wife, may play. Dow wants her excluded under the marital privilege rule.

The prosecution wants her to testify about advice she gave Botti and his father, Peter, in structuring transactions below $10,001 to avoid having them reported to the IRS.

Additionally, Schechter said Kelly Botti worked in her ex-husband's office. "She saw people come in and she saw acts taking place."

The Bottis are weathering a tumultuous divorce which resulted in several police calls to their homes as well as post-divorce proceedings in Milford Superior Court.

Kale informed Haight that Botti told Trabka that "(Milford Supervisory) Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Russo should never have gotten involved in this and will get his." Russo is a friend of Kelly Botti's live-in boyfriend.

Haight warned Botti against any further threats.

"If I hear anything more about you losing control," the judge said. "I will detain and remand you."

Further details outlining Dow's claims are contained in numerous documents that Haight has sealed from public view. On Monday, the judge decided to keep the documents sealed until after a jury is selected.